La Plata volleyball wins second straight SMAC title
La Plata downs Northern for second straight crown
After being humbled in the opening set of the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship match at Huntingtown High School on Tuesday evening, the La Plata High School squad displayed more than a hint of resiliency while taking the next three sets for its second straight SMAC title.
La Plata (12-3 overall) had wilted in the late stages of the first set as Northern (14-2) ended the opening set on a 9-1 run for a 25-18 victory. It was somewhat reminiscent of the previous league meeting between the two squads, won by La Plata in five sets on a match when Northern scored 19 more points over the course of the match.
Tuesday evening at Huntingtown, La Plata had an immediate response.
The Warriors spotted the Patriots a 3-0 lead in the second set then turned the tables on them en route to a 25-15 victory. The next two sets proved markedly one-sided as La Plata cruised to 25-18 and 25-8 victories to garner its second-straight SMAC volleyball title.
Northern won the opener while relying on outside hitters Allie Timbario and Allie Droneberger who delivered sets from Gabby Elbrecht into timely, decisive kills. But the Warriors had more than one answer to that problem over the next three sets as middle blockers Samantha Falenofoa and Megan Schueller and libero Alyssa Gayon neutralized those attacks.
“Our two middles were really good tonight and Alyssa was amazing in the back row with her passes,” La Plata head coach Ashley Buchanan said. “Alyssa’s passing enabled us to run our offense and our middles, Samantha and Megan, did a great job blocking.”
La Plata also benefited from consistent, crisp serves that punished the Northern back row players. Warriors seniors Kelsey Hanks and Ava Krahling and junior Jayci Chamberlain committed a combined sum of only three service errors and
their serves punished the Patriots back row for a sum of 16 aces over the last three sets.
“We’ve been working a lot on serving in practice and tonight we all did a good job on serves,” Chamberlain said. “We have been giving away too many points on serves in our losses, so we needed to fix that before this match and the playoffs on Monday. We’re excited about facing Calvert and then having the chance to go to Patuxent [on Wednesday].”
Northern had dominated the late stages of the first set and owned an early 3-0 lead in the second. But La Plata countered with service runs from Hanks, Chamberlain and Krahling and the Warriors extended them on passes from Gayon that enabled Krahling to set Chamberlain for crucial, punishing kills. Another service run from Gayon pushed the Warriors’ lead to 20-10 and the Patriots never got much closer.
A service run from Krahling early in the pivotal third set gave La Plata an 8-3 lead and Northern chipped away at the advantage. But each time the Patriots were on the cusp of drawing even, Krahling found Chamberlain outside or Falenofoa or Schueller in the middle for key kills. Northern got to within two points on two occasions late, but the Warriors pulled away for a 25-18 victory, ending it on an ace from Sydney Bales.
At no point during the fourth set did La Plata appear in danger of being forced to a fifth-game tie-breaker. An opening run by Hanks gave the Warriors a 4-0 lead and later a prolonged service run from Chamberlain which included three aces off Timbario in the back row, propelled La Plata to a 15-4 lead en route to a 25-8 victory with Hanks serving and Falenofoa and Chamberlain collecting the last two kills off Krahling sets.
“This was probably the worst job of coaching that I have ever done preparing a team for a championship game,” Northern head coach Bobby Gibbons said. “This one is on me. I didn’t have these girls ready tonight, but the best part is we have six days to get ready for our next match [on Monday]. Our goal is still to win the [3A South] region title and get back to states. Tonight showed us how we need to get better and it starts with my coaching.”
The Patriots have the top seed in 3A South Region Section II and will host a section semifinal at 6 p.m. Monday versus the winner of a Thursday opening-round match that had fifth-seeded St. Charles taking on fourth-seeded Chopticon.
La Plata is the second seed in 2A South Section and will host a section semifinal at 5 p.m. Monday versus the winner of a Thursday opening-round match that had sixth-seeded Thomas Stone taking on third-seeded Calvert.